Saturday, July 21, 2012

Too Good to Be True

Too Good to Be TrueKristan HigginsPublished by Harlequin384 pagesAvailable on Amazon.comI bought my own copy5 / 5 cupcakes

So I love Kristan Higgins. We know that, right? I rave about her all the time, I gave away one of her books, and I can't get enough of how she writes. So it will come as no surprise that I really liked Too Good to Be True.

Grace Emerson is the middle child of bickering parents. Her father is a lawyer, while her mother crafts glass sculptures in the shapes of female reproductive organs. Gorgeous older sister Margaret, also an attorney, is in a complacent marriage not improved by her caustic observations. Gorgeous younger sister Natalie is an architect. She's also dating Grace's ex-fiance.

When Grace has come up against romantic conundrums in the past, she solved her problems by making up a boyfriend. Her solution to Natalie's relationship with the ex-fiance is no different. This time she creates Wyatt the Pediatric Surgeon, who, in addition to saving lives, also rescues feral cats. Grace's intentions are honorable; she knows that Natalie will not invest herself in a relationship with Andrew unless she knows that Grace is happy, and Grace is smart and intuitive enough to know that what Andrew and Natalie feel for each other is very different - far more passionate - than what she and Andrew shared.

But then trouble shows up in the form of Callahan O'Shea, Grace's new rugged and HOT neighbor, who recently spent time in the old Grey Bar Hotel. Callahan's ex-con background may put off some people, but Grace is too attracted to him to let a little thing like a prison record keep her from finding out if he's a good kisser.

Like most of Higgins's books, you know exactly where this is headed. And, like most of her books, our heroine has a colorful family for whom she does too much and to whom she is a bit too devoted. Grace's self-sacrifice knows no end. There are times when you want to scream at Andrew and Natalie on her behalf. Thank goodness for Margaret, who often says what we think.

This book differs from others, however, in that Grace and Callahan are together as a couple more than Higgins typically delivers. We actually get to see them struggle together to work things out, and it's fun to read.

Still, this is a feel-good, happy book, full of Higgins's witty one-liners. The path to true love never runs smoothly, least of all in a Higgins novel, but fortunately she gives us heroes and heroines we can root for, along with some good, hot kissing.